[House Report 110-826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 110-826
======================================================================
FOR THE RELIEF OF KUMI IIZUKA-BARCENA
_______
September 8, 2008.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Conyers, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 5243]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 5243) for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 3
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 4
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 4
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 4
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 4
Agency Views..................................................... 5
Additional Views................................................. 10
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for
adjustment of her status to that of a permanent resident.
Background and Need for the Legislation
Kumi Iizuka was born on October 28, 1965, in Shibukawa
Gumma, Japan. She is currently 42 years old. She entered the
United States on an F-1 student visa in 1992. She received a
bachelor's degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a
master's degree from the University of Hartford. In 1998, Ms.
Iizuka began working for Elcom, Inc., pursuant to an H-1B
specialty worker visa.
While in the United States on the H-1B visa, Ms. Iizuka met
and fell in love with Andrew Barcena, a U.S. citizen. She
married Mr. Barcena on July 29, 2004, while he was training to
be a police officer for the El Paso Police Department. A few
weeks later, on August 16, 2004, Mr. Barcena filed immigration
petitions for his wife (now Kumi Iizuka-Barcena) based on their
marriage (Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-
485, Application for Permanent Residence).
Mr. Barcena graduated from the police academy on August 26,
2004. Just 1 month later, in the early morning hours of
September 25, he was shot and killed while attempting to subdue
an aggressive spouse during a domestic disturbance call.
Mr. Barcena died before the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) could process and approve the immigration petitions that
he had filed on his wife's behalf. Due to the circumstances,
however, DHS granted Ms. Iizuka-Barcena deferred action status
along with employment authorization. She was thus able to stay
in the U.S., where she continued to care for Andrew's father,
who was a diabetic and suffered partial paralysis due to a
stroke.
In June 2006, less than 2 years after her husband's death,
Ms. Iizuka-Barcena was diagnosed with breast cancer. She
immediately had surgery to remove cancerous tissue from her
breasts, and she required a second procedure when doctors
discovered another lump in her breasts. She also engaged in
months of chemo and radiation therapy, and she is now on a
hormone medication regimen.
Due to the circumstances in Ms. Iizuka-Barcena's case, DHS
has granted her deferred action status on an annual basis. As
with a stay of removal, grants of deferred action status are
temporary and discretionary. Ms. Iizuka-Barcena has no basis to
immigrate to the United States other than a private bill.
On February 26, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration,
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law
requested, in accordance with its customary practice for
private immigration bills, that DHS' Office of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) provide the Subcommittee with
information regarding Ms. Iizuka-Barcena relevant to the bill.
ICE's report, submitted to the Subcommittee on June 13, 2008,
contained no derogatory information about Ms. Iizuka-Barcena.
The ICE report is reprinted in full in the ``Agency Views''
section below.
Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R.
5243.
Committee Consideration
On July 10, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration,
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law
met in open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 5243, favorably
reported, without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being
present. On July 30, 2008, the Committee met in open session
and ordered the bill, H.R. 5243, favorably reported without
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
H.R. 5243.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, H.R. 5243, the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:(r)MDNM/
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 1, 2008.
Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5243, a bill for
the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag,
Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable Lamar S. Smith.
Ranking Member
H.R. 5243--A bill for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena.
H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for
permanent residence in the United States. CBO estimates that
enacting this legislation would have no significant impact on
the Federal budget.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz,
who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by
Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.(r)MD23/
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R.
5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for adjustment of
her status to that of a lawful permanent resident.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for
this legislation in article 1, section 8, clause 4 of the
Constitution.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 5243 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Sec. 1. Permanent Resident Status for Kumi Iizuka-Barcena.
Subsection (a) provides that, notwithstanding subsections (a)
and (b) of section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,
Kumi Iizuka-Barcena is eligible for issuance of an immigrant
visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence upon filing an application for
issuance of an immigrant visa under section 204 of such Act or
for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.
Subsection (b) provides that if Kumi Iizuka-Barcena enters
the United States before the filing deadline specified in
subsection (c), she must be considered to have entered and
remained lawfully and, if otherwise eligible, be eligible for
adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
Subsection (c) provides that subsections (a) and (b) apply
only if the application for issuance of an immigrant visa or
the application for adjustment of status is filed with
appropriate fees within 2 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
Subsection (d) provides that, upon the granting of an
immigrant visa or permanent residence to Kumi Iizuka-Barcena,
the Secretary of State must instruct the proper officer to
reduce by one, during the current or next following fiscal
year, the total number of immigrant visas that are made
available to natives of the country of the alien's birth under
section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act or, if
applicable, the total number of immigrant visas that are made
available to natives of the country of the alien's birth under
section 202(e) of such Act.
Agency Views
The report from the Department of Homeland Security's
Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on H.R. 5243 is
set forth below:
Additional Views
Meritorious private bills should either represent unique
and compelling circumstances or fit within private bill
precedent of the modern era (from the 97th Congress onward,
following the ABSCAM private bill scandal).
There is precedent in the modern era for the enactment of
private bills where the alien spouse of an American citizen
lost the right to immigrate because of the death of the
American citizen before the approval of the petition for
conditional permanent residence for the alien (usually, but not
always, there was also a U.S. citizen child involved). Congress
has also passed private bills where the beneficiary was the
spouse of a U.S. citizen or legal alien who died while in
service to the United States (such as in the military or the
State Department).
A DHS report on Ms. Iizuka-Barcena was received on June 13,
2008, and contained no derogatory information. Because H.R.
5243 fits within private bill precedent and the DHS report
contained no derogatory information, this is a meritorious
private bill.
Lamar Smith.